Hi guys! Since a lot of you expressed interest in reading my new fic but I haven't seen your name popping up in my notifications I realized you might not know it's up. Well it is up, so I hope you'll go and read it. Here is an excerpt for your enjoyment!

And you remember my two rules? Hunith's words rang in her son's mind as he caught sight of the city before him. Don't reveal your magic and don't tell anyone where you're from or who I am.

Despite his mother's explanation, Merlin still didn't get the second rule. How could someone like her have people who'd 'wish him ill' should they find out who his mother was? She was just a simple healer from a small village that no king cared about. She wasn't anyone important.

Yet, she seemed more insistent on her second rule than the first, so Merlin had agreed. If there was something more dangerous than his magic, then he wanted nothing to do with it.

"Are you Gaius?" the boy asked walking into the room labeled 'Court Physician.' Startled, the old man dropped the potion in his hand, only to find it dangling before him.

"How did you do that?" Gaius asked as Merlin's concentration broke and the vial smashed. "Oh, you must be Merlin, Hunith's boy. It makes sense now. Your mother's letters said you needed instructing in something I knew well. I see now she didn't mean medicine like I assumed."

Merlin was relieved that this man wasn't screaming for him to be burned, and realized that his own mother had broken rule number one. "My mother told you about my magic?"

Gaius nodded, going to clean up the liquid. "Not in so many words. I only knew just now when I saw you try to keep the potion from falling. It was quite impressive where did you learn such magic?"

"I've always been able to do it," Merlin admitted grabbing a rag to help the old man. He worried Gaius might not be able to get back up should he bend down. "Ever since I was a baby my mother said. Hang on, how come you're not calling for my arrest?"

Gaius raised an eyebrow into what Merlin would later know as his signature stare. "Well it wouldn't be good form to get my ward executed, now would it? Besides, I do not share the King's views on magic. He is blinded by fear; a fear I do not share. I studied magic myself until the king outlawed it. Corrupt people use magic; magic doesn't corrupt people."

Merlin had only ever heard Will and his mother talk like this, and he felt relieved. How terrible it would have been to die minutes into his arrival? "I think that's why my mother sent me here. So you could teach me to control my magic."

"I'll very well try," Gaius admitted showing Merlin to the room that would be his. "But you must be careful Merlin. Little slip ups like that will get you killed."

Merlin nodded, shocked about how little control he'd had. Usually he was much better at keeping a lid on things. "Oh, my mother gave me a letter for you," he recalled pulling out the parchment. "I'll leave you to it then."

"Yes, settle in, and Merlin," Gaius called as the boy went to shut the door. "I'm glad your mother did send you. You are quite extraordinary." Merlin nodded and shut the door leaving Gaius to read Hunith's letter.